UST gets a new gym

The construction of a 5,792-seater University of Santo Tomas (UST) gymnasium is now in full swing after university officials, led by Rector Rolando V. de la Rosa, O.P., led its groundbreaking ceremonies last week.

The construction of the P600-million, state-of-the-start, four-storey gymnasium, designed by Thomasian architects Jose Pedro Recio and Carmelo T. Casas, will be done as part of UST's quadricentennial celebration in 2011.

The four-storey sports complex will house a basketball court, with bleachers to accommodate 5,792 patrons. Aside from basketball, the complex will also house the facilities for badminton, fencing, table tennis, indoor track, dancing, gymnastics, and a fitness center. There will also be classrooms, administrative offices, and space for food concessionaires. A multi-level parking space will also be built outside the gymnasium.

When the old UST gymnasium (located near P. Noval. St., in Sampaloc) was first built in the 1940s, UST only had 3,000 students. Today, after more than 60 years, the population has ballooned to almost 40,000. Aside from students, UST is also the home of 1,600 faculty members, 600 professional support staff, 1,400 employees of the UST hospital and 150,000 parishioners of the UST Santissimo Rosario Parish.

Fr. De la Rosa said the UST gym used to be the biggest in the country, a favorite venue for university affairs like graduation ceremonies, eucharistic celebrations, college anniversaries, rallies and dance concerts.

The new gym, Fr. dela Rosa added, will be more than just a place for events and ceremonies as it will serve as a monument to the unique and unparalleled holistic sports development program of the university. It will become part of the UST Sports Complex, and will become the home of the UST varsity players and the Growling Tigers.

The new gym will also serve as a museum that will enshrine all the trophies, medals and other memorabilia of various UAAP championships the university has won throughout the years. Championship banners will also hang from the rafters of the gymnasium.

ALUMNI SUPPORT

A number of UST's former basketball stars took time out and joined the ground breaking ceremonies. They include former Glowing Goldie superstar and three-time former PBA MVP Bogs Adornado, 1995 PBA rookie-of-the-year Dennis Espino, former UAAP Most

Also present were UST basketball head coach Pido Jarencio, who played for UST in the early 80s and his coaching staff, Mrs. Felicitas Francisco, UAAP board member, Thomasian and Olympian Tshomlee Go who will compete in this year's Beijing Olympics.

Fr. de la Rosa, was joined in the lowering of the time capsule (which contains the plans for the building, a copy of the Academia Magazine, current newspapers, and other memorabilia of the present) by Rev. Fr. Ermito de Sagon, IPEA director; Angelo Salvador Cachero, president of the Central Student Council and Architect Casas.

With the new gym, the athletes and the Salinggawi Dance Troupe can have more time/days to practice. Hindi na makikipag-agawan sa estudyante at sa fellow athletes pagdating sa schedule ng pagpractice sa gym.